Education

There are many different definitions for humane education. An underlying theme is teaching children respect and kindness for all living things. Children have a kinship and understanding with animals that encourages trust and companionship. Our objective is to create a culture of empathy and caring by educating children about proper pet care and responsibility. In order to speak for the animals who have no voice, we must reach out today to the children who will shape tomorrow.

There are many benefits to humane education. There are:

Violence Prevention

Violence against animals is normally a precursor to violence against humans. Humane education teaches the appropriate care and treatment of animals, helping students develop their compassion and empathy.

Character Education

Compassion and empathy are, for the most part, learned behavior. Humane education helps to awaken these character traits. Humane education develops the values of kindness, respect, compassion, empathy, responsibility and fairness in students, helping them develop strong ethics.

Empathy Building

Humane education enhances students’ understanding that animals are living creatures to be treated with respect and compassion. Empathy improves a student’s ability to act responsibly, cooperate, solve problems and communicate with others.

Youth Empowerment

Humane education teaches students to be part of the solution. Once students understand the consequences of their actions, they will realize that their choices make a difference.

Check out the Available Programs section of the website to see what the Jacksonville Humane Society is doing to help foster responsible pet-people relationships.

We are currently scheduling activities for the first quarter of 2008. For more information contact us at education@jaxhumane.org.